From Yesterday
by Solain Rhyo
Summary: Upon finding the ring she had forgotten she had, Raine endeavours to return it to its rightful owner. Raine and Yuan.


**.X.**

It was weeks after the fall of Mithos and the departure of Kratos aboard Derris-Kharlan that Raine remembered she had the ring. One evening she found it again, rifling through belongings scattered across the small bed situated in the corner room of Altessa's house; they were mostly knickknacks, things no longer useful but that she had kept as reminders of the journey that had taken her—taken them all—across the breadth of two worlds now joined. The glint of gold caught her eye from beneath a small figurine of the goddess, Martel; shifting the statue aside she picked up the ring with one hand and held it up to the light for closer inspection. It wasn't until she saw the initials, faded and made almost intelligible with time, that she remembered both what it symbolized and who it belonged to. She stared at it thoughtfully for a long minute before setting it carefully on the table at the side of the bed and then returning to her reminiscent search through the odd jumble of items.

It was another week before she got word to Lloyd, and another after that before he answered her. She left Altessa's house early one morning, saying only that she had an errand to run. Genis, ever sceptical and shrewd beyond his age, merely eyed her for a long moment before shrugging and entering the house again. He wouldn't mind her absence all that much because Presea was present, having come the previous evening to pay them both a visit. And so with a rheaird gifted to her by Tethe'alla's Chosen—whom, with a wink and openly suggestive grin, had hinted she should make use of the vehicle to pay him any number of nightly visits—she made her way southwest, crossing both massive expanses of land and ocean with the intent to return the ring to its rightful owner. Lloyd had given her some idea of where he could be found, having kept in contact with the former leader of the Renegades even after the demise of Mithos, but she realized the chances of finding him were slim to none. His penance for all he had done and not done, it seemed, was to wander the world such as it was offering to aid those areas damaged worst by the collapse of the Tower and the growth of the uncontrolled tree, by those hurt most by the actions of Cruxis. He was also, Lloyd had told her with uncharacteristic insight, searching for the inexplicable, for redemption in some form. Raine had a suspicion that redemption was not the only thing he was searching for.

She was astonished when, upon arriving at the abbey, she was informed that Lord Yuan was in fact in the vicinity. Pointed in the direction he had gone by a young acolyte of a religion that refused to realize it was dead, Raine walked up the worn, rutted path leading from the massive stone abbey towards the bluffs that overlooked the surrounding ocean. It was not easy going; twice she stumbled on the uneven footing and once she fell, scraping her knee hard enough that a low hiss escaped her. She contemplated returning to the abbey but immediately discarded the idea; she had come this far, after all. And so, quite some time later, she crested the incline and found herself standing at the pinnacle of the small island with a world of water and stone all around her.

He was seated on an outthrust of rock at the very edge of a bluff; as she approached she could see clearly how very far it was to the surface of the water below. Her advance did not go unnoticed, she was sure, for every step she took rattled the loose stones underfoot. He didn't move, however, his eyes trained on the ocean before him and the shadow that hinted at the mainland so many miles away. Suddenly reluctant to intrude upon his solitude, Raine cleared her throat softly before saying just loud enough to be heard over the break of the waves upon rock below, "Yuan?"

He turned only his head, and she saw the flicker of surprise in his eyes as he recognized who she was. He said, returning his gaze to the panorama before him, "You're the professor, aren't you?"

Raine blinked; of all the ways to be greeted, that wasn't what she had expected. After a moment of hesitation she said, "Used to be."

His lips curved slightly in a mirthless smile. "We all used to be many things."

He offered nothing further, and so Raine took a moment to observe him. He had changed somewhat since last they had met; his hair, a distinctive shade of blue, had been cropped at some point and now fell in uneven lengths about his face to brush his shoulders. He no longer wore the armor of his Cruxis rank, instead clothed much as any civilian would be in plain clothes of brown and black. His attention remained fixed on the scenery for the duration of her observation, and so she took the initiative, feeling inexplicably awkward for having disturbed him.

"I have something that belongs to you," she said, removing the ring from where she had placed it around her neck on a cord for safekeeping. She held it out to him as he turned his face her way again, but it was a long moment before he reached for it. She saw the astonishment in his eyes as his fingers closed around it, saw the mingled sorrow and relief in the lines of his face. Raine took a step back and then began to turn, thinking to leave him alone with the ghosts of his past, but his voice stopped her.

"Wait," he said, and she pivoted back to face him. The ring was now cradled in his open palm, and he didn't remove his eyes from it as he spoke. "Why did you bring this to me?"

It took her a second to formulate a reply. Finally she said, "Because you lost it. Because I know it means something to you."

"Does it?" He asked, lifting his head to look at her. "It's merely a piece of jewellery, after all."

Taken aback at the fierceness in his tone, Raine said, "But what it symbolizes …"

"Yes." His hand curled into a fist around the ring, and he made a noise that was half angry and half amused. "What it symbolizes meant everything to me. But what it symbolizes is also long since gone. Stupid to cherish something dead for so long, don't you think?"

Raine shook her head. "Not at all."

"No?" His gaze again centered on her, gray eyes hard. "What purpose does clinging to memories and wishes hold? To think always about what might have been?"

"Perhaps to remind you," she said slowly, carefully, "of the person you used to be."

He stared at her for a moment, and the smile that twisted his lips then was both mocking and sad. He rose, shoving himself away from the rock on which he had been perched so that he stood on the very precipice of the cliff. Looking down he said, "Maybe you're right." And abruptly he hurled the ring from him so that it flew out over the water, the metal gleaming as it descended with the black cord trailing out behind it. Startled, Raine watched until it was out of sight and then looked to Yuan. He stared still into the water below, and suddenly apprehensive she said, "Yuan-"

"Your name—it's Raine?" He interjected, moving back to sit once again upon the rock. When she nodded voicelessly he continued, "Thank you for returning it to me, Raine."

"It was nothing," she said, and inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement. As again she turned to go, he shook his head.

"No, please stay. Come and sit here."

Bemused, she did as directed, settling on the rock an arms length from him. He was silent for a short time, but she did not mind. The view captured her attention, and she lost herself briefly in the wildness of the landscape. When he spoke next she turned her head to see him better.

"May I tell you a story, Raine?"

And knowing what story he wished to tell, she smiled gently and nodded. He leaned back and turned his face to the brightness of the sky, inhaling deeply before speaking again.

"There was a woman I loved very much, once …"

And as she listened, Raine let her own eyes find the clouds, knowing that as he spoke he saw in them images of what had been, what was, and what could have been.

**.X.**

_**Author's Note: **This was experimental, but I like the way it turned out. It may or may not be a one-shot._


End file.
